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Dev Patel in Talks to Lead Neill Blomkamp's Sci-Fi Comedy 'Chappie'

Initially, details on the next project from District 9 and Elysium (coming in August) director Neill Blomkamp were scarce. The film is called Chappie, and it was described as a sci-fi comedy. Just last month some more details surfaced as it was confirmed that the film would be based on the director's short film Terta Vaal, which acts as an advertisement for a force of robots used to help police and develop slum nations around the world. Sharlto Copley is already part of the cast, and now THR reports Slumdog Millionaire and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel star Dev Patel is in early talks to take the lead human role.

With this news come some minor plot details. Copley is playing one of the police robots patrolling the rundown towns while Patel would play a young man living in one of these places. Patel is no stranger to the slums after his turn in the Best Picture winning Slumdog Millionaire, and his solid dramatic and comedic chops together have proven to be solid in series like "Skins" and "The Newsroom" more recently. Chappie is still early in development though, and we're still waiting to see more original sci-fi from Blomkamp when Elysium arrives later this summer. Sound good?